We were walking home from the station. Sayu, who had been silent almost the whole way, suddenly spoke.
"Yoshida-san, is there anything you really want to do right now? That sudden question made me tilt my head in confusion.
"What are you talking about?" "Come on, think of something."
Something I really want to do… The question was too vague. I already told her that I have no interests or hobbies, and there's nothing specific that I want to buy. I like my current job as it is, so I don't have much desire to move up any further.
No matter how much I thought about it, nothing came to my mind. "Nothing in particular."
When I answered, Sayu chuckled and said, "I see…" "Ah."
I said as if remembering something. "I'd like to sleep for a week."
Sayu laughed. It reminded me of how much I like the way she laughs. "Did you really come up with something that stupid?"
"Well, excuse me for having such stupid desires." When she finished laughing, Sayu pointed ahead. "Over there."
"Huh?"
Sayu ran and stopped by a telephone pole, then turned to me. Wondering what this was about, I looked closely at the telephone pole and realized.
"This is where I met you, Yoshida-san." "…Yeah, that's right."
That's right. This is the place where I first met Sayu and picked her up. I closed my eyes and recalled that event. Although it happened only a few months ago, my memories were quite hazy. But come to think of it, I was really drunk at the time. All I remembered was her smile and black panties.
"So much time has passed already."
When I said that, Sayu smiled and nodded several times. After standing silently under the telephone pole, she spoke.
"I gave everyone else a different name, except you, Yoshida-san." Not understanding her train of thought, I tilted my head in confusion.
Sayu smiled gently and continued.
"Each time I moved to a new place to stay… I gave them a fake name."
Ah, I see. I remembered that altercation with "Kyouya Yaguchi." He called her "Miyuki." So that's the name she used with him.
"But for some reason, when you asked for my name… it really surprised me, and my real name slipped out. I wonder why…"
Sayu closed her eyes as if reminiscing about that moment. I just looked at her and remained quiet.
"After giving you my real name, I thought I might not be able to run away anymore… At first, I was really negative about it."
She paused and looked at me. Illuminated by the light from the street light directly above her, Sayu looked somewhat amazing.
"Thanks to you, Yoshida-san, I won't need to run away anymore."
What Sayu said sounded strangely powerful, even though she didn't mean for it to be that way. I can't put it exactly into words, but I felt a lot of determination in what she said and it sounded uplifting.
She's definitely trying to move forward. I could feel it, and it made me happy. But at the same time, it made my heart ache a little. Perhaps she meant that she had made up her mind and was ready to leave. While I was thinking about it, Sayu suddenly looked at me sideways.
"Yoshida-san, if I weren't a JK, and you saw me out here, would you still have picked me up?"
"Huh?"
That question caught me off guard.
If Sayu wasn't a high school girl. I tried to imagine it, but it didn't work out. While I was thinking, she continued to speak.
"You probably would have. If I were an OL [1], would we have had sex?" She smiled and laughed.
"Probably not."
She said that before I could say anything.
Even if I'm desperate, I wouldn't have sex with a woman I don't love. I even refused an invitation from Kanda-senpai. So, I'm sure of it.
"And in the same way…" Sayu said in a hushed tone.
"Even if you weren't a bearded salaryman…"
She suddenly stopped talking and just stood there with her mouth open. "Um… what's the matter?"
I tilted my head in confusion. Sayu waved her hand and smiled embarrassedly.
"No, it's nothing."
Then she grabbed me by the shirt and slightly pulled. "Let's go home."
"Yeah."
That was an unexpected detour. But it wasn't that far from this pole to the house after all.
Walking away, I looked at it again.
I thought to myself, "So, this was the place where I met Sayu." It's such an important place, and yet, I just walk past it every day.
When I glanced at Sayu, I saw that she appeared to be deep in thought while walking, but with a slight smile on her face. Something about it didn't feel right.
"Hey, you're acting a little strange today."
I said to Sayu as she was putting the food she bought into the fridge. She looked at me in surprise but then shook her head.
"That's not true. I'm acting as usual." "Oh, yeah?"
Something must've happened. But I couldn't put my finger on it, so I didn't pry any further.
"Putting that aside…"
Sayu looked at me mockingly.
"Was your dinner with Kanda-senpai fun?"
"H-How did you know it was Kanda-senpai…?" Hearing my response, she pressed her lips together. "As I thought… It really was Kanda-senpai." "Wha— You tricked me?"
"It wouldn't be fun if I just asked you. You really like her, huh?" "It's not like that."
I frowned at Sayu's obvious teasing. She chuckled and closed the fridge. "What should I eat?"
"Huh? Oh, right… So, you went grocery shopping and then went straight to Mishima's house."
She could have at least served her dinner. As if reading my mind, Sayu spoke.
"Well, Yuzuha-san did give me hot milk to drink, but that only allowed me to hold back the hunger a bit. If I don't eat anything, I'm going to starve. Do you mind if I prepare something?"
"You think I'd say no? You should eat properly."
I replied. Sayu smiled and went to the bathroom to wash her hands. She barely moved before, but now she was unusually active. It was unlikely that she could recover that quickly, so her legs are probably still
sore. Although this was barely noticeable from the way she acted. That could only mean that she had some kind of emotional shock.
The more I thought about it, the more irritated I felt.
It would've been fine if the changes were good. But I didn't like the fact that something had changed in her, and I couldn't even tell what. However, the most annoying out of all this was the realization that I am too concerned about it. I don't know why I'm feeling this way.
Sayu came out of the washroom and asked me.
"If I make miso soup, will you have some? Are you full?"
"Ah, no… I think I'll have some. I've eaten too much fatty food." "Mmm, got it."
She nodded and began to fill the pot with water.
I couldn't help but feel a sense of discomfort as I watched Sayu preparing to skillfully make miso soup.
Unable to figure out what had changed within Sayu, I felt somewhat bored. So, I went out to the balcony and had a smoke.